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User blog:Pat141elite/PE Proposal:General Roman Barkov
It's been a week and a half following the release of the new Call of Duty: Modern Warfare game and I'm excited to do this proposal. If you think Vladimir Makarov from the original Modern Warfare trilogy was messed up? How about this new game's main antagonist, General Roman Barkov SPOILERS WARNING: For those who haven't played or seen the single player gameplay of the new Modern Warfare, read at your own discretion. What is the Work? Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is the reboot of the original Modern Warfare trilogy that began with Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Taking place in 2019, the story revolves on the Western world's battle against terrorism, particularly the terror network known as Al-Qatala; the Urzikstani resistance, led by its leader Farah Karim fighting off Russian invaders with a help of CIA agent Alex, who is joined by two members of the British Special Air Service - John Price and Kyle Garrick. Who is the villain? General Roman Barkov is the main antagonist of the game. A corrupt Russian military general who is using the country's forces to create a full-scale global war between Europe and the Middle East, believing it would manifest into world peace. In truth, however, it was mainly to protect Russia entirely from terrorism. His plans lead him into conflict with the U.S. Military, C.I.A. and the Urzikstani Liberation Forces led by his archenemy Farah Karim. Known for his ruthless methods of investigation and destructive anarchism, Barkov would use any means to get what he wants. What he has done? The fact that Barkov is based on Walter E. Kurtz from Apocalypse Now, he has committed innumerable war crimes in comparison to those of Nazi Germany during World War II; raging from genocide, abuse of position and authority, torture, gaoling, terrorism, and even possession of biochemical weapons. Twenty years before the events of the game, he starts his own Holocaust in Urzikstan by killing, abducting, torturing, and imprisoning innocent Urzikstani civilians - including women and children and justifying the invasion to protect peace. Or rather, as based on his claims, to suppress terrorism as he believed that Urzikstan is breeding terrorists. His occupation of Urzikstan has the opposite effect of what he claims of suppressing terrorism, that said leading to the formation of Al-Qatala, who declared their jihad against the West. Farah Karim even calls him out in being no better than the so-called terrorists he sought to purge. Additionally, Barkov appears to have been keeping chemical weapons and is running a factory for said weapons in Georgia. These chemical weapons were even smuggled by Hadir Karim's forces and Al-Qatala, with the latter group using them to commit acts of terrorism in London. Ultimately, Barkov's actions did more harm and tarnished Russia's reputation as implied by Nikolai. At the end of the game, he ends up pleading for his life when Farah brutally stabs him multiple times before she throws him down from a helicopter. As a result, the Russian government covered up his death by disowning him and labeling him as a war criminal. The moot point of the matter allowed Al-Qatala, under a new leadership, to invade the Russian city of Verdansk as retribution for Barkov's invasion. Mitigating Factors God, where to begin? This guy is a huge hate sink, and possibly a bigger one in Call of Duty history. Barkov is a paranoid, tyrannical anarchist whose patriotism taken to extremes. Considering the war crimes he has committed in the story, the Urzikstani resistance even noted his lack of empathy and oppressive methods. Barkov deconstructs the "Necessary Evil" trope as his justification of invading a Middle Eastern country to suppress the breeding ground of terrorists as nothing but hollow excuses of a tyrannical madman with delusions of grandeur. Even though he had an understandable goal in doing so, Barkov only cared about himself and his so-called loyalty to Russia, and there's absolutely nothing redeemable or reasonable about his goals. Before Farah kills him, he desperately tries to contact the Kremlin, but his calls fall on deaf ears showing that the Russian government are fed up of his BS and label him as a renegade and ironically after his death, Barkov goes down as the most dangerous war criminal, with his death being covered up by the Russian government by disowning him. Following those turn of events, Al-Qatala invades Russia in retaliation for Barkov's actions. Heinous Standards The Modern Warfare reboot, in contrast to the original trilogy, stood out with a darker and edgier tone; showing the realism of modern warfare (pun intended) and terrorism to a disturbing degree that can give you nightmares: like two children (namely Farah and Hadir Karim) trying to survive when their homeland is being invaded by Russians and even witnessing their father die, acts of terrorism committed by Al-Qatala, as well as the horrors of weapons of mass destruction like nuclear and biochemical weapons. To quote Captain Price, "We go dirty, and the world stays clean.", it also shows that even the good guys themselves are no saints to begin with. Even soldiers in the side of good are more willing to cross the line whatever it takes to complete their mission (e.g., one mission involves kidnapping The Butcher's wife and son and threatening their lives right in front of him to get information. And of all things, the player has the option to either kill The Butcher IN FRONT OF HIS OWN FAMILY!!!). Compared to Al-Qatala and their members, Barkov poses a serious threat above all else. His invasion of Urzikstan had a more adverse effect than what he hoped for; namely the foundation of Al-Qatala itself. Barkov has racked a number of atrocities in the game's campaign all for the sake of protecting his country. It's much better to compare him to Adolf Hitler than Walter E. Kurtz. Compared to his predecessors from the original trilogy such as Imran Zakhaev and Vladimir Makarov, Barkov leans on both war crimes and acts of terrorism altogether. For a warmongering psychopath, Barkov is also a depraved sadist, taking delight at his victim's suffering, as shown in Farah's flashbacks when he tortures her by waterboarding and threatens to kill a fellow rebel if she passes out. It's even implied he had some of his soldiers executed even with the slightest failure. He genuinely believes he's doing the right thing, protecting Russia through his actions, even though they make him arguably just as bad, if not worse, as the 'terrorists' he fights. And it was proven correct in the end of the game, something that Farah can call him out for before throwing him out of his helicopter. In the end, as said above, Barkov's efforts were rendered moot after his death, allowing Al-Qatala to retaliate by invading Russia. It goes to show that even in the original trilogy, there's also a cycle of revenge going on in the game's rebooted timeline. Barkov himself had perpetuated that vicious cycle. Even after his death, that cycle still continues on when AQ set out to invade Russia. Final Verdict And to sum it up, it's a 100% yes. Otherwise, you are welcome to object on this proposal. Category:Blog posts Category:Pure Evil Proposals Category:Finished Proposals